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Those Who Know Don't Say by Garrett Felber
Those Who Know Don't Say by Garrett Felber
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Those Who Know Don't Say: The Nation of Islam, the Black Freedom Movement, and the Carceral State
by Garrett Felber
🏛️ SYSTEMIC INJUSTICE & CIVIL RIGHTS HISTORY
A bold intellectual history centering the Nation of Islam within the Civil Rights Era and detailing the foundational roots of the modern carceral state.
Extended Synopsis
In Those Who Know Don't Say, historian Garrett Felber provides a definitive and exhaustively researched account that reframes our understanding of the postwar Black Freedom Movement. Moving beyond the traditional narratives of racial liberalism, voting rights, and school desegregation, Felber focuses on the intense, multifaceted struggle against policing and prisons. By placing the Nation of Islam at the center of this narrative, the text illuminates how Black nationalist organizing and broad-based grassroots coalitions fiercely opposed the emerging carceral state in the mid-20th century.
The book rigorously documents the interplay between law enforcement and Muslim communities, revealing how state repression, surveillance, and Islamophobia laid the groundwork for contemporary mass incarceration. Felber captures familiar figures in entirely new contexts—such as Malcolm X serving as a courtroom lawyer and A. Philip Randolph building Harlem coalitions—while simultaneously highlighting the crucial, often overlooked organizing efforts of rank-and-file activists like Martin Sostre. This work is an urgent, indispensable resource for understanding the historical continuum of police violence and the modern prison abolition movement.
Author Biography
Garrett Felber is a prominent historian and scholar whose research focuses on the intersection of social movements, Black nationalism, and the carceral state. His work is recognized for its rigorous archival research and its capacity to uncover the hidden political struggles of marginalized communities, contributing significantly to modern academic discourse on prison abolition and civil rights.
Reader Targeting
- History & Sociology Scholars: Academics researching the roots of the US carceral system, state surveillance, and mid-20th-century social movements.
- Civil Rights Advocates: Professionals and activists seeking foundational knowledge on the historical struggles against systemic police violence.
- Criminology Students: Individuals studying the interplay between law enforcement policies, racial targeting, and prison organizing.
Accolades & Awards
- Published as a premier volume in the esteemed Justice, Power, and Politics series.
- Acclaimed for its provocative and definitive restructuring of postwar Black Freedom Movement historiography.
Product Specifications
| ISBN-13: | 9781469653822 |
| ISBN-10: | 1469653826 |
| Publisher: | University of North Carolina Press |
| Format: | Paperback, Illustrated |
| Publication Date: | 2020 |
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